A superhero Vishnu fighting bad guys on city streets? Monkey god Hanuman reincarnated as a soccer playing, evil-fighting youngster? It’s the latest craze in Indian entertainment: “mytho-cartoons,” cartoons that borrow from Hindu mythology to entertain as well as teach Indian youth about Hinduism.
There is an unusual cultural exchange present in Indian mytho-cartoons: Indian animators are borrowing from Western entertainment to tell centuries old Hindu myths in a new and innovative way. Many popular mytho-cartoons use the concept of the modern comic book superhero to portray Hindu gods to Indian kids. Mytho-cartoons are becoming so popular that production companies, such as Percept Picture Company, which produces the popular “Hanuman” films, have plans to release their films and TV shows in the US and Europe, completing a cyclical cultural exchange of ideas and beliefs.
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